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Thursday 04 February 2010
One day like this
When I was working on my Defining A Decade series of post this past Christmas, I had a hard time narrowing my list down to just 10 albums that had shaped the 200s for me. There were so many great records that just weren’t going to make the mark, and a greater number that wrestled and fought with me for their rightful spot. One such record was The Seldom Seen Kid, by Elbow, released in 2008. It stands as one of my favourite albums of that year, and a highlight of Elbow’s career. Besides gracing my top albums of the year list (which is a prize in itself), it also had the honour of winning that year’s Mercury Music Prize in the UK. Though it didn’t make the list of defining records, the grace and beauty of The Seldom Seen Kid has ensured that it’s become a go-to record in my collection, a default choice when I want something familiar and comforting, uplifting and moving.
Apparently, I’m not alone in those sentiments. On January 17, 2009, with only a few days of rehearsal and preparation, Elbow stepped into the hallowed halls of Abbey Road Studios, joined by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Chantage (BBC Radio 3′s Choir of the Year) for a complete run-through of The Seldom Seen Kid, bolstered by an accompanying score arranged by Nick Ingham. It was only ever intended as a one-off performance, a once-in-a-lifetime event. But now here we are, almost a year later, and the recording of that night’s performance, along with a DVD document of the evening is available domestically in North America (having been released in the UK a number of months back), and Elbow fans on this side of the pond are ever thankful for it. It always was a grand and epic sounding record, but with the sweeping strings and brass of the BBC Concert Orchestra as part of their jam, Elbow have never sounded more beautiful. The album had never been performed live prior (some songs actually having never been played in concert at all), and it never will again, for magic like this can only happen once. I’m just glad that the band and the BBC have allowed those of us who couldn’t be there to experience it live the chance to hear and see this amazing performance.
Video: Elbow with the BBC Concert Orchestra “One Day Like This (live at Abbey Road)”
Mysapce: Elbow
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
